The Secret Sauce to Music Streaming App Development
In the current digital age, music streaming has become a popular way for people to access and enjoy their favorite tunes. As a result, music streaming app development has emerged as a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to capitalize on this growing trend.
With the rise of on-demand music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, there has never been a better time to create a music streaming app.
Developing a music app requires careful planning and execution, from understanding user needs to create a user-friendly interface, implementing music licensing agreements, and building a robust back-end infrastructure.
However, with the right expertise and resources, creating a music streaming app can yield substantial rewards in terms of revenue, user engagement, and brand recognition. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll understand how to make a music app & key features that set it apart from its competitors.
Create a Music Streaming App: The Market Rundown
Before embarking on the journey to build a music streaming app, it is vital to understand the market rundown for music streaming apps. As per a 2022 survey report, the music streaming industry is set to witness an upsurge in global revenue generation of music streaming app development. Here are some statistics.
- In 2021, they touched 28.2 billion USD. These figures are predicted to upsurge by 1.4 billion USD by 2026.
- In 2022, music streaming accounted for 84% of the total revenue generated by the music industry in the United States.
- In 2022, Spotify generated 11.7 billion euros which is 9.67 billion euros more than the previous year’s collection.
These statistics clearly advocate for the supremacy of the industry titans, like Spotify and Amazon Music, who have spent years garnering a colossal user base. By implementing the best practices in the business, they’ve made their apps capable of suggesting relevant artists, genres, and music to subscribers.
Before kickstarting the journey to create a music streaming app, you must understand the types of music streaming services you want to offer users. This will further simplify developing the right music streaming app.
Types of Music Streaming Apps
The three most common types of music streaming apps are listed below.
Music Library
Apple Music & Spotify are prime examples of a music library. A server-based music library offers access to users as per their subscription plans — premium or freemium.
Cloud Storage
Audio Box and Groove Music are key examples of cloud-storage music streaming services. It includes building a music streaming app with cloud storage where users can stream songs of their choice at any time.
Radio Stations
Radio stations do not require a further introduction. They’ve been active in the market for years. Creating a radio station app includes constituting different radio station channels that can be streamed on devices like mobile, PC, tablet, and laptop.
To create a server-based music streaming app development, developers need to follow some stringent guidelines. Generally, these guidelines are related to license acquisition, data storage, platform selection, and the MVP of the music streaming app. Let’s read about them in brief.
Music App Development: Vital Steps to Follow
The following steps are key pillars in setting up a sturdy foundation for starting the music app development journey. Here’s everything that must be followed.
License Acquisition
As the rightful owner of a music streaming services app, it becomes essential to acquire a license or public performance rights, for offering content to the users of the music streaming app. This helps in gaining the copyright to provide the content.
Licensing for the music streaming app development project, for the US market, is managed by:
- The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
- Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)
For the European market, you can acquire a license for offering music streaming services from the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).
Data Storage
The music library continues to grow with the arrival of fresh soundtracks. For storing the data, a backend streaming server becomes a vital element to include that supports streaming. For this, developers can use AWS as a permanent solution.
Another option is to stream the music library through the SDKs and APIs provided by the music streaming app industry leaders like Apple Music or Spotify. However, developers must be considerate of the restricted use of the tools offered.
Platform Selection
There are only two platforms that run a music streaming app — Android and iOS. In this competitive era, you cannot afford to lose customers by creating a music streaming app only for a single platform.
Hence, the music streaming app development project must be developed for the iOS and Android platforms. If you are targeting a specific region, then you may choose either of the platforms. For example, the US has a higher number of iOS users, whereas, Europe has a higher number of Android users.
Building the MVP
Your music streaming app development project must begin with an MVP. A minimum viable product (MVP) has the basic but core functionalities in the music streaming app to catch the user’s attention. Creating an MVP for a music app development project helps primarily in
- Curbing additional development costs
- Verifying the market demand & acceptance of the app
Once you’ve built the MVP of the music streaming app & it gains traction in the market, start integrating more features in the pipeline. Here’s a complete list of must-have features in a music streaming app.
Music App Development: Key Features to Include
Your music streaming app should include the following features.
- Registration/Sign up — Users should be able to register & signup easily. By integrating social media signup, you can simplify the signup process for users.
- Music player — To create a music streaming app successfully, the development team must integrate a music player. Users can create their own playlist of tracks & bookmark artists/songs.
- User Profile — The user profile will include the complete details of the user, account details, and subscription details.
- Search — The search section will allow users to search for a specific genre, song, album, and artist.
- My Music — Under this section, users can save their favorite tracks, create playlists, and share the playlist via social media platforms that have been integrated by the development team.
- Settings — The settings feature shall include the features for changing audio settings, downloading quality, etc., for offering a personalized experience to users.
The app can be further improved by integrating additional features for a better experience. These features can include preferences, editor’s picks, theme-based music, and top trending artists/songs.
After integrating so many features, your music streaming app should generate revenue as well. There are different monetization models for music streaming app development projects.
Monetization Models for Music Streaming App Development
A music streaming app is a sheer business. Monetizing it is mandatory and there are different monetization models for generating revenue.
Freemium
The freemium model for a music app development project allows users to access the content of a music streaming app. Users can access the basic features of the app with ads.
Subscription
Music streaming apps offer ad-free content to users under a subscription model. Many music streaming apps prefer the subscription model for generating revenue on a regular basis.
Advertisements
Advertisements are a great source of income for generating revenue. Many music streaming apps run ads, but Spotify has different plans. It runs genre and artist-specific ads to promote them.
Music App Development: Final Words
In conclusion, the future of music app development looks promising, as music streaming app development continues to evolve with the latest technology trends.
Developers should focus on creating user-friendly interfaces, providing personalized music recommendations, and incorporating social media features to enhance user engagement.
Additionally, a successful music app should integrate with various streaming services and offer unique features to stand out in the highly competitive market. With these considerations, it’s possible to create a music app that users will love and use regularly.
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